The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (414721) Flying Officer Ronald Keith McIntyre, No. 460 Squadron RAAF, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (414721) Flying Officer Ronald Keith McIntyre, No. 460 Squadron RAAF, Second World War.

414721 Flying Officer Ronald Keith McIntyre, No. 460 Squadron RAAF
KIA 29 December 1943
Photograph: P08331.003

Story delivered 9 April 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Flying Officer Ronald Keith McIntyre, whose photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

Ronald McIntyre was born on 24 February 1923 in Allora, Queensland. He was the son of Peter and Ella McIntyre, and grew up on the family farm at Mt Tyson. Little is known of his schooling, but as a young man he worked on the family farm.

Ronald McIntyre enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 8 November 1941 at the age of 18. He undertook training in Australia before being sent to Canada and Britain as a part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Just over 12 months after enlistment he was a commissioned flying officer.

Flying Officer McIntyre was posted to No. 460 Squadron, an RAAF squadron formed in Britain around the time that McIntyre had enlisted. The squadron had become part of the British Royal Air Force's Bomber Command and was committed to a strategic bombing campaign against Germany. McIntyre became the pilot of a Lancaster bomber.

On the night of 29 December 1943 Flying Officer McIntyre was piloting a Lancaster JB298 on a raid to attack Berlin with another 19 aircraft. He and his crew of six failed to return. After some months he was presumed to have been killed in action, and this was confirmed by his presence in a German report.

It was later determined that the aircraft had exploded in the air over Berlin. The entire crew of five Australians and two British men probably died instantly. It was reported by the Germans that McIntyre had been buried at Rudow Cemetery near Berlin; however, after the war no trace of any Allied airman could be found in this cemetery. It is likely that McIntyre was buried at Doberitz Cemetery, also near Berlin, where the bodies of a large number of aircrew were buried without identification during the war.

Today, in the absence of a marked grave, Flying Officer Ronald McIntyre is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial in England, and here on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 others from the Second World War. Ronald McIntyre was 20 years old.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Flying Officer Ronald Keith McIntyre, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.